Advise on amp for Sig8NT inwalls

[setanta]

Hi all, first time post to this forum although I've been reading various threads for the past year or so.

I would appreciate some advise and guidance on matching an amp with a pair of Sig-8NT in-walls. These speakers are rated at 200W and I know a good choice would be a Rotel RB-1080 for about $1k. However, I expect to be upgrading to fully digital amps in 12-18 months and I am considering using a cheap power amp such as a Crown XLS402A in the interim. There are several glowing recommendations over on the AVS Forum for these amps which can output 260W at 8ohms and 400W at 4ohms. The general consensus from several members over there is that they get the best sound out of their speakers by throwing lots of power at them.

Theses amps can be had for as little at $250 so the price is definately right for a throw away solution but I have some concerns..

I will be using an older Denon AVR receiver as my pre-amp (this component will get upgraded when the dust settles on HD-DVD sound support) and I can plug the Crown amp into the switch AC output on the back so I should be able to power on all components at the same time via a remote control. However, if the Crown volume is set at a mid-level will I get a surge into the speakers and will this damage them over time ? There seem to be differing opinions on this. These amps do generate heat and have noisy fans but it's claimed that the fans can be removed if the power draw is not to high and as I'm more interested in listening to a full rich sound at low levels rather than ear-bleed rock perhaps this is not a problem. My other main concern is background noise (either hiss or humm) that may be audible through the speakers. I have no idea if this is an issue or not but I'd appreciate if anyone here has experience with using this type of power amp and if I'm making a sensible choice.

Thanks to all..

[aphexist]

However, I expect to be upgrading to fully digital amps in 12-18 months

Why would you want to drive those speakers with a digital amp? I'm just curious what demonstration made you think that a digital amp would be right for your speakers.

Regardless, I woud consider a used RB-1080 in the interim. You can pick one up for $500-600 and sell it when you get your new amps for roughly the same price.

You should not plug a separate amp into the switched outlets on the back of your AVR. Those are meant to power small devices, not high-current amps. If you want to power on all components at the same time, you can set up the 12v trigger output from your Denon to the amp you select. The Rotel has a 12v trigger, but I'm not sure if that Crown amp does.

If you experience speakers hum, then the culprit is USUALLY the grounding of your outlets. This can be solved by using a "cheater plug."